Trisha
Contributor
Has anyone heard more about this?
My husband and I did a high tide dive on Thursday, July 12, that turned into an evening dive -- and were signaled out of the water by the park ranger. The sign on the way in said sunrise to 10:00 pm, and all my information said it was a great spot for night dives, so....
No worries, the park ranger was cool. He was aware that for years the spot has been a mecca for diving, including at night. He also was concerned about the less savory activity that was being discouraged at Phil Foster Park, particularly at night (other SB posts have mentioned this.)
We might not have gotten the attention (it was still dusk) but some fishermen were upset that another group of scuba divers had cut their lines, hence the additional presence of a member of the Palm Beach County sheriff's department. He also was cool, speaking about other diving hot spots in the area that he had visited.
He was less impressed with the divers parked on Blue Heron Bridge. The East side is apparently Riviera Beach jurisdiction (and I've seen posts tonight about hefty fines) but the exit is still beach property.
We were directed to get our information from the PBC website. After a bit of looking, I did find that there are press releases and an official web page on Phil Foster Park, which makes no mention of diving at the sight, either during the day or night.
Again, we had a nice visit with the ranger and officer, and found them to be both good ambassadors for the area and helpful about different aspects of Palm Beach County. Balancing enforcement of rules and tourism can be tricky, but they did a good job. We do appreciate the security presence at the park.
Still, we would not have been in the water after sunset if we had known. We were going by information on a variety of sites and by personal recommendations, which apparently are out of date.
Wade's Page on Blue Heron Bridge
http://www.wadespage.com/D800DS06RF01.shtml
Official website for Phil Foster Park
http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/philfoster/aboutphilfoster.htm
Another perspective on park security
http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=471422
The 2004 closing
http://www.puravidadivers.com/phil_foster_park_diving.html
It's a shame -- during the dive we saw crabs, shrimp, spadefish, sergeant majors, grey and French angels, surgeonfish, "other fish." Richard was looking the other way when a southern stingray went behind him. I also saw what really looked like two small baracuda at the edge of visibility (15 to 20 feet). We followed a horseshoe crab, then I saw two more on the way out.
And we were looking at our first octopus just emerging from a hole in the seabed, tentatively stretching out his arms, when we noticed how wierd our dive flag light was acting... but it was a flashlight beam from above.
The park ranger thought that was cool, too.
Trish
My husband and I did a high tide dive on Thursday, July 12, that turned into an evening dive -- and were signaled out of the water by the park ranger. The sign on the way in said sunrise to 10:00 pm, and all my information said it was a great spot for night dives, so....
No worries, the park ranger was cool. He was aware that for years the spot has been a mecca for diving, including at night. He also was concerned about the less savory activity that was being discouraged at Phil Foster Park, particularly at night (other SB posts have mentioned this.)
We might not have gotten the attention (it was still dusk) but some fishermen were upset that another group of scuba divers had cut their lines, hence the additional presence of a member of the Palm Beach County sheriff's department. He also was cool, speaking about other diving hot spots in the area that he had visited.
He was less impressed with the divers parked on Blue Heron Bridge. The East side is apparently Riviera Beach jurisdiction (and I've seen posts tonight about hefty fines) but the exit is still beach property.
We were directed to get our information from the PBC website. After a bit of looking, I did find that there are press releases and an official web page on Phil Foster Park, which makes no mention of diving at the sight, either during the day or night.
Again, we had a nice visit with the ranger and officer, and found them to be both good ambassadors for the area and helpful about different aspects of Palm Beach County. Balancing enforcement of rules and tourism can be tricky, but they did a good job. We do appreciate the security presence at the park.
Still, we would not have been in the water after sunset if we had known. We were going by information on a variety of sites and by personal recommendations, which apparently are out of date.
Wade's Page on Blue Heron Bridge
http://www.wadespage.com/D800DS06RF01.shtml
Official website for Phil Foster Park
http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/philfoster/aboutphilfoster.htm
Another perspective on park security
http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=471422
The 2004 closing
http://www.puravidadivers.com/phil_foster_park_diving.html
It's a shame -- during the dive we saw crabs, shrimp, spadefish, sergeant majors, grey and French angels, surgeonfish, "other fish." Richard was looking the other way when a southern stingray went behind him. I also saw what really looked like two small baracuda at the edge of visibility (15 to 20 feet). We followed a horseshoe crab, then I saw two more on the way out.
And we were looking at our first octopus just emerging from a hole in the seabed, tentatively stretching out his arms, when we noticed how wierd our dive flag light was acting... but it was a flashlight beam from above.
The park ranger thought that was cool, too.
Trish
